Free Republic

(JTA) — A Jewish organization from Crimea said its Ukrainian bank account had been emptied of funds following Russia’s annexation of the peninsula. The disappearance of $3,157 from the account of the Jewish Ner Tamid association with Privatbank was reported Thursday by the ITAR-TASS news agency. The money “had been withdrawn,” the news agency quoted Anatoli Guendine, head of the Reform Jewish group, as saying. Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine on March 18, in a move that Russia said was in accordance with the wishes of most residents and that was designed to protect them from persecution by...

GOOGLE TRANSLATION: Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) expressed concern about the safety and welfare of the Muslim Crimean Tatar community peninsula. "You can not prevent the recurrence of suffering of the Crimean Tatars, who in the XX century expelled from their native Crimean land," - said in a statement the OIC. In the organization noted that it is extremely important that the rights of the Crimean Tatars to citizenship, life, religious and cultural heritage and property were observed. In the OIC are convinced that in the XXI century " constructive dialogue and good neighborly relations should become the norm for...

Armed men have seized the government buildings in the capital of the Ukraine’s Crimea region and hoisted a Russian flag over a barricade. The men occupying the parliament building in the regional capital, Simferopol, early on Thursday did not come out to voice any demands. They wore black and orange ribbons, a Russian symbol of the victory in World War II. The men also put up a sign saying “Crimea is Russia.” They threw a flash grenade in response to a journalist’s questions. Phone calls to region’s legislature rang unanswered, and its website was down.

BRUSSELS, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russian warships will continue patrolling waters off the coast of Abkhazia until all U.S. ships leave the Black Sea, Russia's NATO envoy said on Wednesday. Russia sent warships from its Black Sea fleet (Image gallery) to ensure security along the coast of Georgia's breakaway province of Abkhazia following an attempt in early August by Georgian forces to retake South Ossetia, another breakaway republic. "I think our ships will stay near the coast of Abkhazia as long as it is necessary to ensure security [in the region]," Dmitry Rogozin told a news conference in Brussels....